Horton Hears a Who a lesson in Charity

Tonight for Valentines day we watched Horton Hears a Who as a family. This month in sacrament meeting we are talking about Charity. As I watched this movie I realized that Horton is full of Charity and can teach us some important lessons. First, he shows us charity, pure love, by trying to save a speck that has people he can hear but doesn't really know. So to save them he is going to walk a long way to give them a safe place. At first his journey is pretty easy and he seems to be having fun. Then he is told by a friend that a kangaroo who isn't nice to him at all is hiring someone to come after him. Now instead of speaking ill about this Kangaroo to his friend he just hurries on to try and save these people because, “a person's a person no matter how small”. Well a scary Buzzard or vulture comes and tries to take the “clover” the speck is on and Horton does his best to keep the speck safe but the Bird gets them and drops them in a huge field of clovers. Horton cries when he sees where the bird has dropped the “clover”. He hopes that they are ok but worries they are not. Then Horton proceeds to spend hours and hours looking for his “clover” in the midst of all the others. A needle in a haystack for sure. But he does not quit until he finds them. Then he starts on his journey again. Well next he encounters the entire jungle of Nool coming after him and they tell him that everone will go away and leave him alone if he will just deny that there are any people on the speck and let them smash it or throw it in a boiling pot of beezlenut oil. But Horton can't because he loves the who-ville people and wants to help them so he says no. Then they rope him and cage him and take the speck and the flower and drop it, luckily at the last minute the little kangaroo, son of the other kangaroo saves the speck and gives it back to Horton because they finally heard the whos and believed Horton. Now the people love Horton and surround him and a bunny brings him cookies, but off by herself is the mother Kangaroo who tried so hard to stop Horton. Now Horton once again shows his love for people because instead of telling her “I told you so” or leaving her to herself because she had been so mean, he goes up to her gives her a cookie, forgives her and accepts her. He could have held a grudge and the too could have been enemies for life but Horton loved people more than himself or at least the same and their comfort and needs and wants were more important than his own. He had charity. When we give of ourselves to help those around us not for compliments from others but because we love and want to help and can see that everyone is important and we all are the same, children of God, no matter our size or shape or what we believe, then we too will have charity. He knew that he needed to lift and help and love others and showed us this by everything he did. May we live more like Horton and follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ as Horton did. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.